The order is another blow to the industry, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic. After the first and second waves of closures, allowing home delivery after a period of time, and then operating at 50% capacity and reduced hours for an extended period of time, restaurants have only recently seen an uptick in business until the third wave attacked.

The DDMA order came during a meeting on Monday to discuss restrictions, cases and bed availability. “In view of the increase in positive cases, it was decided to close restaurants and bars and allow only ‘take away’ facilities. It was also decided to allow each area to operate only one weekly market per day,” tweeted Delhi L-G Anil Baijal.

Kabir Suri, president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), said the new guidelines were unsustainable and would affect “over 300,000 people” working in restaurants in Delhi. “It’s going to lead to widespread unemployment because no one knows how long this will last,” he said, adding that more than 25% of restaurants were closed last year and more than 24 lakh people nationwide lost their jobs.

Suri said the restaurant industry was the first to shut down after the Covid outbreak and was almost the last to reopen during the first and second lockdowns. They won’t be allowed to stay open until midnight until the end of August 2021. “This third wave will be worse than last year. So far we have somehow survived, but with the new guidelines announced in Delhi today, it seems unlikely we will be able to sustain it any longer,” he said.

Complete News Source : The IndianEXPRESS